Button or stud



(No Model.)

BUTTON 0R STUD,

No. 321,653. Patented July '7, 1885.

Fig. 5.

THOMAS W. F. SMITTEN, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

BUTTON OR STUD.

SPECIPECATIGN forming part of Letters Patent No. 321,653,6lated July 7, 1885.

Application filed July 5, 1883. [No model.) Patented in England September 13, 1883, No. 4,462 in France September 1883, No. 145,303, and in Germany November 30, 1883,1\"o. 51,275.

To ail whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS W. F. SMITTEN, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Buttons or Studs for Cuffs, Collars, and Shirt-Bosoms; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to that class of buttons or studs in which the post or that part which passes through the button-hole is rigidly united in the face-plate or head and back plate or shoe.

My invention has for its object to provide a button or stud of very simple and durable construction, which can be easily inserted in the button-hole, and which will remain in position free from any tendency to work out and be lost, and will be capable of being readily withdrawn at the will of the wearer.

My improvement consists in a button or stud having a flat post,the edges of which are straight and parallel throughout, and which is perpendicular to the head or front plate, and a back plate or shoe, one edge of the post being flush, or nearly so, with one edge of the back plate, and the other edge of the post be ing opposite the center of the back plate or opposite a point midway of the length and width of the back plate.

In the drawings, Figure l is an edge View, Fig. 2 is a side View, and Fig. 3 is a back view, of a but-ton or stud constructed according to my invention. Fig. 4 is a side view, and Fig. 5 is a back view, of a stud illustrating a modification of my invention.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several views.

Ain Figs. 1, 2, and 3 indicates the front plate or head of the button or stud,which may be of ordinary or any desirable form. B indicates a straight post arranged perpendicular to and attached rigidly to the central part of the front plate. This post is flattened on two opposite sides, and its narrow edges are straight and parallel throughout its entire length, and are rounded off transversely to facilitate the insertion and withdrawal of the button into and from the button-holes. indicates the back plate or back of the button or stud,represented as having an elongated form,whioh may vary between nearly semicircular, as shown in Fig. 3, and elliptical or semi-elliptical. It is arranged relatively to the post so that one of its sides is flush, or nearly so,with one of the narrow edges of the post, as shown at c in Figs. 2 and 3, the other narrow edge of the postbeiug at or near the center of the back plate or opposite a point midway of the length and width of the back plate. The back plate is thus offset from one of the edges of the post, as shown at i in Figs. 2 and 3.

In Figs. 4 and the front plate or head, A, of the button or stud, together with the back plate, 0, are similar in form to that already described, and shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, and the post only differs in that, instead of its being made of one flattened piece, as shown in those figures, it is made of two straight wires, f 9, set perpendicular to the head and back of the stud or button, and arranged a little way apart, so as to be equivalent to a flat post made of one piece. The outer edge of one of these wires is flush, or nearly so, with one of the longer sides of the back 0, and the outer edge of the other oneis opposite, or nearly so, to the center of the back plate, the said edges be ing in the same position relatively to the back plate as the edges of the flattened single post shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3.

In each example of myinvention here shown the width of the back plate or shoe is about double that of the post, and the length of the back plate or shoe extends in the direction of the thickness of the post.

To use my improved button or stud, one of the ends (1- of the elongated back plate is inserted in the button-hole far enough to bring one of the flat or broad sides of the post to one edge of the button-hole, and is then turned half-way round in a direction to throw the offset side 2 of the back first under the said edge, and afterward across both edges of the button-hole. The same operation is repeat-ed for the other button-hole, leaving the stud or button with the fiat sides of the post parallel with the edge of both button-holes.

To remove the button or stud, it is turned in a direction, first, to present the side of the ton-hole.

back plate which is nearest the post to the edge of the button-hole, and then by the continued turning and canting of the button or stud it will be caused to pass out of the hole.

It will be observed that in the button which forms the subject of my present invention the post has parallel edges throughout, or is through its entire length of a width considerably greater than its thickness. Consequently, when the button is inserted in a button-hole, the flat post, by reason of its much greater Width than thickness, will hold the button so that the wide portions of the back plate extending from each flat side of the post will overlap the two edges or margins of the but- When the back plate is thus held, there is no liability of the button being lost. Were the post contracted in its width at any point between its head and back plate, there would be liability, when the contracted portion of the post shifted into the button-hole, of the button turning, so that the width of the post would be at right angles to the width of the button-hole, and in that case the back plate, if coincident at one edge with one edge of the post, might slip through the button hole and entail the loss of the button.

I do not claim a button or stud having a flattened post and elongated back plate offset to one side of such post with its greater length transverse to the flat sides of the post when a portion of the post is contracted, as such a button or stud is subject-matter of my Letters Patent No. 276,917, dated May 1, 1888; but

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

A button or stud having aflat post the edges of which are straight and parallel throughout, and which is perpendicular to the head or front plate, and aback plate or shoe, one edge of the post being flush, or nearly so,with one edge of the back plate, and the other edge of the post being opposite the center of the back plate,or opposite a point midway of the length and width of the back plate, all substantially as herein described.

T. W. F. SMITTEN.

W'itnesses:

FREDK. HAYNES, ED. L. MORAN. 

